Photographing the annular eclipse

abruzzi · Sep 4, 2023

An annular eclipse will be passing by soon, and I thought it would be fun to try to take a few shots. This is a bit different than a total eclipse, instead of corona, it will be just a ring. I wonder if its possible to capture the sun and the landscape on film? All the solar filters on B&H seem to do is function as a 16+ stop ND filter. That would be fine if I wanted to capture just the sun, but I expect that would also completely block out the landscape. I could also try a graduated ND to even exposure, but the stringest I can see are 5 stop--plus the the graduated edge never conforms to where I need it.

Has anyone done this on film? Is this a fools errand?

(I could also bring digital, but I'd really rather do this on film.)

DWThomas · Sep 4, 2023

Sounds like a mighty tough SBR to deal with. Maybe take two shots, one before or after without the filter (although into the sun that's a bit scary too), then sandwich the negatives. But that is rather limiting the possibility of multiple shots and/or exposure bracketing. (Hmmm -- use a bunch of cameras?!)

Here I'm currently grappling with joining friends on a jaunt to Ireland that would get me back barely in time for the total eclipse next year -- decisions, decisions.

ic-racer · Sep 4, 2023

Last partial eclipse of the sun I photographed was with an 8x10 pinhole camera. I used one of the on-line pinhole calculator to get the aperture and bracketed exposures on 8x10 B&W film.

Even enlarged to 11x14", the sun came out pretty small (see image below). I think if I were to have included any horizon, the sun would just be a spec.

Next year, for the total eclipse, I'll use a lens.

Tom Taylor · Sep 4, 2023

I took this shot a few years back with a 75mm lens on a Pentax 67II. Although it's safe to look at the sun briefly when it is close to the horizon as in this shot, out of an abundance of caution I placed a circular polarizer on the lens which probably enhanced the color on the film which was either Provia or Velvia. I don't recall if I used a split ND filter or not, but I spot - metered off the suns corona which is the yellow-colored halo surrounding the suns disk. If the suns elevation was much higher, which will probably be the case for the ellipse, I would consider using a solar filter alone.

Tom Taylor · Sep 4, 2023

That was actually the 2d shot I took that day. You can see the first one here. (Last image in the 6the row.) After I took the first the incoming tide rose and the sun dipped a little lower in the horizon. But the impetus for the 2d shot arose when a pod of brown pelicans flocked on the small offshore island to watch the sunset. I believe that I did use a split grad to bring out the foreground more.

Paul Howell · Sep 4, 2023

With black and white film I would use Diafine, maybe Pan F, shot at 100.

abruzzi · Sep 4, 2023

I was thinking TMAX100 since I have a large box of 4x5. I did some tests today to see the enlargement size. The Nikkor 500/11 telephoto seems perfect. From what I can figure the sun will be about 38 degrees off the horizon in the southeast. I figure the bright part of the sun is going to be over exposed, no matter what I do, I just would like to contain any flare so the so-called "ring of fire" is visible. So maybe underexpose the environment by a few stops--enough that it can still be visible. There won't be time to reframe, so the goal will be to take a bunch of shots with varying exposures, and maybe approaching and leaving full eclipse.

NedL · Sep 4, 2023

don't forget the shadows under trees, if you have a chance to see them.

abruzzi · Sep 4, 2023

This is the path over New Mexico:

One of the best places in my state would be up north in Bisti Badlands or Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah in the north western part of the state, but that would be a bit of a drive. So too would be Shiprock. But Salinas Pueblo is pretty close to the blue center line, and has some nice ruins and I can get there in about 3 hours driving (and the way back takes me past the Owl Cafe in San Antonio, NM!)

avandesande · Sep 4, 2023

I'm probably going to Chaco Canyon. The eclipse is probably the least interesting thing to photograph, everything is bathed in a unique specular light hopefully I can capture some of that.

Tom Taylor · Sep 5, 2023

Looking at the sun 38° above the horizon without a solar filter, even a small sliver of it, with high magnification will result in instant blindness. Even when the sun is on the horizon I never put magnification on it without a solar filter. I would consider mounting the lens/camera on a tracking mount and use a solar filter to focus the lens, remove the solar filter, cover or block the objective until ready to shoot, and alternatively block and shoot. Don't forget to wear solar glasses.

Incidentally, the first exposure I linked to above was with a 75mm Pentax SMC lens, and the 2d with the 105mm SMC.

abruzzi · Sep 5, 2023

viewing on a view camera ground glass is very different then looking through the viewfinder of an SLR. I've already set up a test with a 500mm lens and the sun in-frame. Sure there is a very bright spot but its easy to ignore and it doesn't hurt my eyes at all

takilmaboxer · Sep 6, 2023

The center line passes right over my house in the East Mountains, so I don't have to go anywhere. The last annular eclipse did too; maximum eclipse occurred at sunset. And back in the 90s, another annular eclipse passed just south of us, so that makes three New Mexico annulars in 30 years! I had to travel to Wyoming to see the last total eclipse. The next one is 900 miles away in Texas. I am a die hard New Mexican. I wouldn't be caught dead in Texas.
I am thinking of showing the eclipse to all my neighborhood kids, but their parents are all a bit weird, not sure if they'd approve.

Sirius Glass · Sep 6, 2023

takilmaboxer said:
The center line passes right over my house in the East Mountains, so I don't have to go anywhere. The last annular eclipse did too; maximum eclipse occurred at sunset. And back in the 90s, another annular eclipse passed just south of us, so that makes three New Mexico annulars in 30 years! I had to travel to Wyoming to see the last total eclipse. The next one is 900 miles away in Texas. I am a die hard New Mexican. I wouldn't be caught dead in Texas.
I am thinking of showing the eclipse to all my neighborhood kids, but their parents are all a bit weird, not sure if they'd approve.

Do they believe seeing an eclipse is deviant behavior?

takilmaboxer · Sep 6, 2023

Well, one neighbor's kid (#1)is home schooled, not allowed access to TVs or smart phones, carefully shielded from the modern world. But he's smart as can be and I think his dad would be OK with it. Across the street (#2)are three kids who aren't usually allowed outside, the parents feel safer when they're inside using their phones to play video games with their friends from school. Third house (#3) has six kids, all very happy and well adjusted, but the parents are religious conservatives. In today's world with its mistrust of modern science, I tend to be hesitant.
I missed a great photo opportunity with the kids. The 8 year old boy in the second house escaped and met the 8 year old boy from the first house to play. It had just rained and there was a ten foot wide mud puddle in the driveway of the second boy's house. The boys were having a great time rolling in the mud and throwing mudballs at each other, but by the time I'd gone inside for my K1000, they were already headed to the first boy's house to clean up.

reddesert · Sep 6, 2023

If you want to show people an eclipse, one way is with binoculars with a good solar filter (only buy from a reliable supplier) carefully fitted in front of the objective so it can't come off - for example, build a cardboard box that slips over the front of the binoculars, cover the inside front of the box with the solar filter film, tape the box onto the binoculars so it can't come off. Another way is with a very long "focal length" pinhole camera. I made one for the 2012 annular eclipse out of a ski box nearly 2 meters long, with the end of the box half cut away so that people could see the pinhole image projected onto a piece of paper. Even at that length, the projected image is only about 15mm across. It is a good device for a public setting though because the big box attracts people's attention and you can show it around without have to fiddle with adjusting the focus, etc.

IMO, it will be difficult to capture any landscape and any details of the solar annulus in the same image. The effect of the lighting on the landscape is really cool, though, so be prepared to look at it and try photographing it (IOW, if you point one camera at the sun, have another you can take landscapes with, and don't spend the entire eclipse looking into a focusing screen.)

abruzzi · Sep 7, 2023

reddesert said:
IMO, it will be difficult to capture any landscape and any details of the solar annulus in the same image. The effect of the lighting on the landscape is really cool, though, so be prepared to look at it and try photographing it (IOW, if you point one camera at the sun, have another you can take landscapes with, and don't spend the entire eclipse looking into a focusing screen.)

yeah, I expect the sun will be flaring like crazy, but I was hoping that with 90% of the sun eclipsed, I could capture something halfway interesting. I figure in the ~3 minutes, I'm prepared to shoot ~12 frames of TMX--essentially large format bracketing. Before developing I'll look for options to maximise the dynamic range.

These days, I don't shoot much color on film, so I was figuring on bringing a handheld d*gital cam to supplement.

takilmaboxer said:
The center line passes right over my house in the East Mountains, so I don't have to go anywhere. The last annular eclipse did too; maximum eclipse occurred at sunset. And back in the 90s, another annular eclipse passed just south of us, so that makes three New Mexico annulars in 30 years! I had to travel to Wyoming to see the last total eclipse. The next one is 900 miles away in Texas. I am a die hard New Mexican. I wouldn't be caught dead in Texas.

Lucky! I love the area south of Tijeras, and almost bought a place in that area once.

I did see a total solar many years ago when I was about 14. I did the whole cardboard box pinhole viewer which was fun.

Photographing the annular eclipse

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